Laura Tenner, MD

One of the more difficult topics to discuss concerning the ethics of healthcare is distributive justice-the fair distribution of benefits, risks, and costs.

Progress in the area of targeted therapies for colorectal cancer has come slowly and with some difficulty.

In this article, we have chosen to focus on three ethical challenges that we believe practicing oncologists might commonly encounter with their patients. The ethical dilemmas are presented in a case-based approach in the hope of better joining the ethical theory to clinical practice.

In 2002, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) established the Cancer Prevention Committee (CAPC), which was formed in the hope of ensuring the integration of cancer prevention into oncology practice and research.[1]